


Angry Ghosts

by junko



Series: Chasing Demons [7]
Category: Bleach
Genre: M/M, Original Character(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-10-25
Updated: 2012-10-25
Packaged: 2017-11-17 01:01:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,528
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/545784
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/junko/pseuds/junko
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Renji wakes up to a feeling of being observed, could it be Rukia... or the avenging ghost of Byakuya's mother?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Angry Ghosts

This time when Renji woke in the middle of the night to the sensation of being watched, his first thought was: it’s the angry ghost of Byakuya’s mother. 

_She’s caught me naked in bed with her precious only son._

_Revenge for the jade dildo!_

Laughing at himself for that last thought, Renji blinked as his eyes adjusted to the darkness of a moonless night. He lifted his head from where it lay on Byakuya’s shoulder. This time, he woke in time to catch sight of a small, slender form as it turned the corner into the sitting room and the trailing edge of shimmering silk kimono.

“Rukia?” he called out to the sound of bare feet making a swift retreat on tatami.

If it was her, she didn’t answer.

 _Good gods, girl. Don’t do this to yourself_ , Renji thought, hoping he was wrong about their midnight interloper. He would almost rather it was a haunting specter. Even the avenging spirit of Byakuya’s mom would be better than the idea of Rukia standing over them and their rumpled bed still stinking of men and sex and unchanged sheets. Worse, the ridiculously expensive sex toy sat on top of its carved ivory box on the end table in full view.

Whoever spied on them knew exactly what sort of sordid things had happened in this bedroom.

Renji settled back into the crook of Byakuya’s arm. Byakuya must be exhausted not to have woken at Renji’s shout--or, for that matter, to complain of being smothered, considering how Renji sprawled nearly on top of him. Mindful of Byakuya’s injuries, Renji shifted so that less of his weight pressed onto the captain’s body. He wasn’t quite willing to untangle himself entirely, however. Moments like this were rare enough. He might as well enjoy the feeling of Byakuya’s arm around him and listen to the gentle sound of their mingled breathing. 

The residue feeling of eyes on him and the scent of Byakuya’s sex made Renji agitated and horny though, and so it was a long time before he fell back to sleep.

#

Next Renji woke to the sound of birds twittering in the eaves and the smell of strong tea. Eishirō opened up the window screens, letting in the filtered light of a rainy day. 

“You may wish to head to the sentō, Lieutenant. It’s still early enough to avoid a crowd,” Eishirō said over his shoulder, as he set a vase of freshly cut flowers on Byakuya’s mother’s dresser—the very one Renji had rummaged through so frantically last night. When Renji didn’t respond with more than a groan and a flop over to his other side, the steward added: “The Lady Kuchiki usually takes her breakfast with his lordship.”

The subtext wasn’t even subtle: _So get out._

“Fine,” Renji grumbled. He sat upright with a sigh. Hanging his feet over the side of the bed, he ran his fingers through the mass of snarls that was his hair. Leaning his arms on his thighs, Renji stared at his bare feet with bleary eyes for a long moment trying to get up the gumption to move. Eishirō’s hand appeared in front of his face with a bowl of hot tea. Renji took it. He squinted up into Eishirō’s pleasantly handsome face, as the steward laid a robe—his tattered cherry blossom robe—across Renji's naked lap. 

“There now,” the steward said amiably. “That’s everything you need, isn’t it, sir? Do you also require Aio to show you the way through the garden to the private entrance to the hot springs or do you already know the way?”

“I can go in the front,” Renji said, taking a sip of the tea.

“Oh no, that simply won’t do, Lieutenant,” Eishirō explained, nonchalantly picking up the dildo and its box and setting it on the tray of other items to be taken away to clean. Renji grunted at the awkward and ducked his head to hide the growing redness on his face. Eishirō continued calmly, as though there were nothing untoward about taking care of his master’s sex toys, “I’m sure his lordship would prefer you not to pay.”

“Uh… okay. Whatever. I’m sure I can find my own way,” Renji said. He downed the tea as fast as he could without scalding his tongue, and then stood up and shrugged into his robe. Eishirō seemed impatient to strip the top covers from the bed. Renji wondered what he planned to do about Byakuya’s kimono. Renji sure hoped the cute little frog puzzle wasn’t ruined; he’d never forgive himself. Byakuya was still so passed out, he didn't even stir through their entire conversation. Renji secured the tie of his robe and considered giving Byakuya a kiss goodbye. But, under the stern gaze of the steward, he decided not to. Before he left, however, Renji asked, “Is the estate haunted?”

Of course, Renji had no idea if it was even possible to become a ghost in the Soul Society, but he figured maybe, if you were born to the Seireitei, your soul might be as reluctant to leave here as anywhere else.

“Not that I know of. Why?”

Renji rubbed the back of his neck, “Because this is twice now I’ve woken up to the feeling of someone standing over the bed, you know, watching us.”

“Oh dear,” Eishirō said, unfolding a fresh blanket. “I warned you that the Lady Kuchiki was restless at night.”

“You really think it was Rukia?”

Eishirō gave Renji a long, pitying look. “Lieutenant, if you’re hoping it could be one of the staff, you’re sadly mistaken. No one serving at Kuchiki manner would dare.”

“And there’s no possibility of a ghost?”

With a disapproving air, Eishirō turned away and began setting out the fresh linens. “Not unless, sir, you’ve somehow managed to irritate the dead.”

 

#

 

The attendant at the onsen poked her head the changing room when she heard someone coming through the private backdoor. She looked surprised to see Renji, but didn’t say anything beyond raising an eyebrow. 

At least she probably wouldn’t let anyone else in for a while, knowing it was him and all his prohibited tattoos. 

Since there was no use hurrying back to the estate, Renji took his time washing. He gave himself a thorough scrubbing and trimmed his sideburns. Then, he spent several minutes trying to untangle his hair. If he’d been smarter, he’d have asked Eishirō to send along whatever product Byakuya used to keep his snarl-free and smelling so nice. As it was, he used the soap provided by the bathhouse.

After a rinse, Renji lowered himself into the warm water and wondered what it would be like to be a fly on the wall in Byakuya’s bedroom right now. Was there tension? Renji couldn’t imagine Rukia actually being bold enough to confront her brother about his sex life. Byakuya would never offer. Probably they were talking about the weather, which had turned decidedly wet and uncomfortable. But, was Rukia looking at her brother and trying to decide which of them had used the dildo? What would she think if she knew the truth, that Renji’d fucked himself while Byakuya watched?

A deep boom of thunder rumbled, rattling the timbers. Renji shook his head, mortified at himself.

Maybe Eishirō was wrong. Maybe it was some curious staff person—after all, despite what the steward said, someone had walked in on them before. Anyway, why would Rukia spy on them in the middle of the night? What could she possibly get out of doing something like that? She knew they were together. What would be the point of torturing herself with the image of her brother and her best friend all tangled and sweaty and spent? 

Renji certainly had no interest in seeing Rukia with someone else. He’d seen her naked plenty of times when they were younger. No denying she was a fine sight to behold, but, he had no desire to gawp at her while she was passed out on some dude who’d obviously had his wicked way with her. No, that would make him insane. His imagination was bad enough; seeing her with sex toys would have driven him over the edge. He’d had a hard enough time not punching those guys she used to date in Inuzuri, especially that first creep she’d probably lost her virginity to. Renji was never more grateful than when that jerk finally dumped her and he’d had an excuse to kick that guy in the balls. 

Maybe Rukia didn’t have that same kind of visceral reaction, but Renji couldn’t picture a scenario where sneaking in to stare at her brother and his lover was ever a good idea—but especially not when said lover was her childhood friend.

Lightning flashed through the row of windows near the ceiling.

A nasty storm was raging outside. It was probably just as well Renji had nothing to do today. He’d been hoping to see if he could sneak to the underground training grounds to put in some bankai practice, but, looking at the sheets of rain hitting the glass, he might wait for a break in the weather.

Out of the corner of his eye, Renji saw something dark slink through the shadows under the benches along the wall. 

“Oi,” he shouted, turning his head towards it. “Enough with the haunting already; come out and face me!”

A black cat strode out into plain view and sat down on its haunches near the lip of the hot springs. It blinked big, yellow eyes at him through the steam. “Sounds like someone’s having spirit troubles,” rumbled the deep voice of Yoruichi. She licked her paw thoughtfully, “And here in the Soul Society, no less. That’s… unusual.”

Renji let out a breath he didn’t even realize he’d be holding. “Oh, it’s you.”

“You were expecting a hungry ghost?”

“No, an avenging mother,” Renji admitted, but before she could ask for details, continued, “What are you doing on this side, anyway? Ladies go through the pink door.” He pointed a finger at the half-wall, “Your side’s over there.”

“Hmm,” she said in her masculine voice. “I think this is an appropriate choice at the moment. Really, I should talk to Byakuya-chan about adding a nice purple kitty door for me. Perhaps on that backdoor *you* came through.”

He supposed the crack about the private entrance was supposed to be some kind of poke, but Renji just shrugged. “Well, the water’s warm, and no one else is here. You can join me, if you like.”

“How kind,” Yoruichi purred. In a second, she transformed into her human form. Renji knew he wasn’t supposed to look, but she was always so… impressive. He admired her dark purple-black hair with its ear-like tuffs, those startling amber eyes, and that… shape. Lithe and muscular, but voluptuous, too-- all highlighted by the dark, rich color of her skin. 

Damn near perfect. The noble houses sure knew how to build ‘em.

She stepped into the water, smiling into his appreciative stare. “I’m glad I caught up with you, actually. I wanted to let you know that I’ve sent a communiqué to the human world. Kisuke will have everything you need at the end of August. He is a little uncomfortable with the idea of Byakuya showing up on his doorstep, however, so he’s set up a drop point. When everything is ready, I’ll have a key for you that will take you to a storage unit at the far end of Karakura Town.”

Renji nodded. “That sounds fine. I appreciate all you’re doing. I’m going to owe you both, big time.”

Yoruichi gave him a sly smile, as she propped her arms on the lip of the pool. “Believe me, Kisuke will keep a ledger. He’ll make sure you pay in full. For my part, consider it an early birthday gift.”

He frowned a little at the thought of owing so much to the former captain Urahara, but, if he wanted his birthday to go off without a hitch, it was the price he’d have to pay. “Will you leave me a list of places—like the ones you told me about?”

She nodded. “But, are you sure about this, Abarai? I really don’t see our stuffy little Byakuya boy cutting loose in public.”

“I don’t really care if he sits and watches. And anyway, it’s not ‘public.’ Not really, no one there is going to know us, and it’s not like we’re ever going to see them again.”

She pursed her lips and shook her head. “I can see how that might work for you. I still think you’re crazy if you think it will for him. But, if you really believe Byakuya will go along with it, power to you.”

“Well, he promised. You know what he’s like when he promises something.”

Her eyebrows shot up. “Hmmm, though from what I hear, these days you’d better hope you phrased things just right. Aren’t you supposed to be under house arrest, for instance?”

Renji frowned. “Don’t mess with my head. Not today. I’m too easy a target,” he muttered dejectedly, suddenly worried that all his careful plans for his birthday adventure might unravel. “I didn’t get nearly enough tea this morning, and I slept for shit. I’m sure he’ll go along with things for my birthday.”

“Of course, darling,” she purred. “How could anything possibly go wrong?”

#

 

They didn’t talk about much after that, and eventually the Lady Yoruichi got tired of harassing him and the sentō’s attendant wanted to open the place up to the public. 

Renji stood for a while under the portico just outside of the bathhouse’s private entrance and watched the downpour. The wind had died down, but the rain fell in heavy sheets. He was wondering how the hell he was going to get back to the estate without getting completely soaked and muddy, when he saw a figure carrying a bangasa coming towards him. As the form came into view, Renji recognized Eishirō, who greeted him with, “I see I’ve timed things perfectly. His lordship was concerned you hadn’t brought your shoes.”

Renji looked down at his bare feet. The fact was Renji had dashed the distance to the onsen in the earlier drizzle wearing nothing more than his tattered robe. Eishirō handed him a water proof cloak and sandals. 

He took them somewhat skeptically, as though expecting a trick. He wasn’t used to this kind of deferential treatment and it made him uneasy. “I could have made a run for it. I do have some shunpō, you know.”

“Indeed,” the steward said, automatically reaching up to adjust the shoulders of the cloak to make sure they lay flat. The fit was a bit tight, so Eishirō fussed trying to make it look better. “And then you would have dripped mud onto the imported Indian weave rug in his lordship’s foyer. The spirits of his ancestors--as well of mine--would have hounded you mercilessly for the rest of your life. And, we couldn’t have that, now could we?”

“Fuck you, Eishirō,” Renji said fondly. “Fuck you.”


End file.
